Read More

The other partners are Lincolnshire Co-op, Network Rail, Lincolnshire County Council and East Midlands Trains.

City council leader Ric Metcalfe tries out the new spaces at Lincoln Central Car Park

David Reid, operations manager at contractor Willmott Dixon which has completed the work, says it is a "catalyst for growth".

He said that Lincolnshire's redevelopment of the Corn Exchange and Cornhill to usher in new shops, restaurants and a cinema would not be happening had the council not effectively under-written the transport hub scheme.

He said: "The transport hub means much more for the city than just a car park and a bus station.

"This is also the catalyst for growth and further future development.

"From the council's point of view, the risk was fairly high. Although they had funding, they did not have all of the money at the point in time when they decided they had to go with it.

"Therefore, they had to put some of their own money into this, when the project could easily have come to nothing.

“The new bus station and wider transport hub project will help revitalise the key visitor arrival point into the city centre.

“As an ambitious council we are incredibly serious about our aim of growing the city and ensuring it is a fantastic place to be.

"Our commitment to the Transport Hub project demonstrates to people locally, regionally and nationally that Lincoln is a thriving city and we are confident enough in this belief to invest significantly in its future.”

When you look at the transport hub in terms of numbers it is impressive.

A staggering 150,000 bricks went into construction of the bus station and car park – laid end to end this is equivalent to the distance from Lincoln to Grantham.

The total depth of the supporting piles driven into the ground is 8,400m which is equal to the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean.

Enough concrete to fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools has been poured into the site.

And more than 2,012 tonnes of steelwork has used which is as heavy as six Boeing 747s or 330 African elephants.

There is 100,000 metres of cable – equivalent to the distance from the bottom to the top of Mount Everest - and 700m² of glass.

Will John Lewis ever come to Lincoln?

The 1,000 car park has been built to the specification of a large retailer like John Lewis.

It is pay on exit and each floor has a completely flat design in the interests of public safety - there are no ramps or big pillars where anyone could hide.

Spaces are in different colours to help people park, and each space is 2.5 metres wide, bigger than the standard 2.4m.